Pastoralism and farming in Tanzania
Extensive grazing is one of the major causes of conflicts between famers and pastoralists in many parts of Tanzania. The conflicts tend to persist in many places, due to the fact that pastoralists seem to be more affluent than farmers, and therefore able to influence the relevant authorities to protect them. It takes ten pounds of vegetable protein to raise a pound of meat protein, so pastoralism is driven economically to less productive land, where the risk of overgrazing and desertification is greater. Major Pastoralists in Tanzania Sukuma, Maasai and Kurya tribes are predominantly pastoralists; Sukuma tribe is leading, as it occupies about five regions of the country, namely Mwanza, Shinyanga, Geita, Tabora and part of Mara region. It is estimated that there are about 1.7 million1.7 million pastoralists in Wikipedia:Africa; while in Wikipedia:Tanzania, there are about 111,000 with about 18 million indigenous cattle, as indicated by A. P. Njombe, Y. N. Msanga, A. E. Temba and M. Tsoxo.A. P. Njombe, Y. N. Msanga, A. E. Temba and M. Tsoxo Larger percentage of land in Wikipedia:Tanzania is either freehold or customarily owned, contrary to other countrieas like Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya whereby, almost every piece of land is under control of either indivividual or public agency. Migration of Pastoralists As result of scarcity of pastures, many pastoralists (especially Sukuma, who are the majority) are migrating from their places of origin Shinyanga, Mwanza, Geita, Tabora with flocks of cattle ranging from 50 to even more than 5,000, to other places within the country, while others are even crossing the borders, and get to Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Lack of clear agricultural Wikipedia:policy contributes to the conflicts and violence in the different parts of Tanzania. For example, Dr. Martin Walsh documented that, in 2006 more than 200,000 cattle with their herdsmen were evicted by government from Usangu Valley, and as a result they moved to Wikipedia:Songea, Chunya, Wikipedia:Rukwa, and Mafinga, where they caused Wikipedia:conflicts with farmers. Effects of pastoral life Apart from the fact that pastoralists cause many conflicts with other members of society due to competition for resources, especially pastures and water, their families lack very important social services such as potable water, primary health care, improved houses, and most importantly, education for their children. In most cases, children from pastoralists' families, do not get chance to attend school; Pastoralists can not build permanent homes, as they shift on regular basis, from one place to any other place depending on the availability of pastures and water for their Wikipedia:cattle – in other words, people are driven by needs of their animals, instead of those animals meeting their needs. Conflict between Pastoralists and Farmers There have been several conflicts among pastoralists, and between pastoralists and farmers in various regions, such as Mara, Kagera, Kigoma, Rukwa, Wikipedia:Ruvuma, Wikipedia:Morogoro, Wikipedia:Iringa, Wikipedia:Mbeya, and Wikipedia:Pwani. “Kurya” are involved in Wikipedia:violence from time to time within their places in Wikipedia:Mara region such as fighting and stealing livestock from each other; while “Maasai” and “Sukuma” are involved in conflicts in other regions, other than their places of origin, such as feeding their livestock in the crops’ farms and Wikipedia:forest reserves; as a result they get into conflict with farmers, other villagers and National Wikipedia:forest reserves’ authorities. Recent clashes between farmers and pastoralists (Maasai ethnic group), reported from Ikwiriri town, Wikipedia:Rufiji district in Pwani region by news media, including IPP Media, resulted in the death of one Wikipedia:villager in May 20, 2012 – consequently, Wikipedia:villagers were angry with Wikipedia:Police as they were alleged to protect them, they burned the house of the suspect, Wikipedia:police station and District Wikipedia:Police Chief’s residence. After this incident, about 53 Wikipedia:villagers were detained, but released after few days, as the appointed investigation team discovered that, it was the fault by Wikipedia:police, since they were irresponsible to deal with the problem promptly and impartially. This is also reported by Riziki Makoye of Tanzania Alertnet, in June 2012 Alternative livelihood for Pastoralists It is the fact that Wikipedia:climate is keeping on changing due to many factors that put life of pastoralists in a very difficult condition, as it is testified by Mohamed Adow in April 2008. Some Wikipedia:pastoralists have resorted to go to the urban areas in search of casual jobs and pet trades. For example Maasai in Tanzania are now scattered in all cities, Wikipedia:municipals, and Wikipedia:towns in the country doing petty trades and casual security jobs. The government should address the issues of pastoralists and possibly look for possibilities of changing gradually from their current livestock keeping style, to the an improved one, that will comply with the current life style; this will avoid violent conflicts which involve use of small arms as that exist in Wikipedia:Karamoja, in Wikipedia:Uganda and Wikipedia:Turkana, in Kenya. Failure to seriously address the problem, violence that may endanger peace in the country may occur, as that occurred in Wikipedia:Tana River county, Kenya between Orma, the pastoralists and pokomo who are farmers in fight for control of pastures and water, which resulted into death of more than 50 people, majority being women and children, on 22 August 2012. References * Martin Walsh (April 2008): Pastoralism and Policy Processes in Tanzania, Mbarali case study * Mohamed Adow (April 2008): Pastoralists in Kenya * http://www.tanzania.go.tz/livestock.html * A. P. Njombe, Y. N. Msanga, A. E. Temba and M. Tsoxo - Efforts to Increase Improved Dairy Cattle in Tanzania * Newstime Africa (August, 2012) - http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/27962 Category:Agriculture and the environment Category:Farming Category:Pastoralism